Special Lawn Problems
A lawn naturally grows in a thick dense habit and under optimum
conditions it will grow vigorously with few problems. Following
these basic guidelines to keep your lawn robust and healthy.
Proper nitrogen fertilization is the key to preventing diseases
in your lawn and also affects insect populations. Too much nitrogen
and the plant will store nitrogen in its tissues. This is perfect
for disease start up and nurturing. Too little nitrogen makes the
lawn weak and even more susceptible to disease and insects. Carefully
follow the manufacturer’s instruction on the fertilizer package.
When you water, do so deeply and infrequently. Watering too often
and not for long enough periods causes shallow roots and weaker
plants. Soil should be moist to 15 cm below the surface.
Mowing your lawn at the proper height (50% taller than its normal
height of 5 cm) will keep it growing vigorously.)
Control your thatch layer – 1 cm is about normal. If more,
then it must be removed, as it hinders disease and insect control.
The thatch layer also hinders the flow of nutrients, water and air
to the soil. Thatch builds up when your lawn is over-fertilized,
over watered or the soil is too acidic.
Following is a list of common pest and insects:
Dogs
Dog urine can burn your grass. It should be washed away. Then reseed
on fresh soil or replace sod.
Moles
Moles are 10 – 15 cm long with strong forelegs and long claws
and they push the soil out of their way as they move. The best way
to control moles is to control their food supply of white grubs.
They will then move on.
White Grub
Grubs are milky-white in colour with brown heads and are about 3
cm long and can be found curled up in the soil. They create brown
areas in the lawn that roll easily up as a roll of sod would. These
insects are the larvae of various beetles such as June and Japanese
beetles. The entire lawn may die from their feeding on the roots.
Some of the beetles lay their eggs in spring, early summer or late
summer; therefore, they are around for most of the growing season.
Grubs will feed in summer, then move deeper to over-winter and resume
feeding in spring. Use a lawn insecticide or beneficial insects
for control.
Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs are black or brown with white wings, approximately 1
cm long and the nymphs are pinkish with a white band. The grass
will be yellowish and dead. If you suspect chinch bug, cut both
ends out of a tin can and push it into the lawn. Fill with water
for 10 minutes and the insects should float to the top. Control
with a lawn insecticide or beneficial insects. Affected areas may
need to be re-seeded.
Leaf Hoppers
Leaf hoppers are wedge-shaped insects that you usually see hopping
from leaf to leaf. They are about 1 cm long and yellow, green or
grey. They tend to walk backwards or sideways. The grass may look
bleached or thinned and there will be white or brown spots on single
leaf blades indicating the leaf hoppers are feeding on the plant
sap. Control with insecticide or beneficial insects.
Cutworm
Cutworms are grey, black or brown worms approximately 2” long.
Often they are found in the thatch layer and you may see them by
pulling back a section of grass. The grass will look chewed unevenly
along its edges. One cutworm can sever the stems of many grass plants
in one night. These worms feed only at night and for the entire
length of the growing season. The adults become dark night-flying
moths with stripes on their fore wings. Control with insecticide
or beneficial insects.
Sod Webworm
Sod webworms are 1 to 2 cm long and light brown or grey with black
spots. You will see white moths flying over the lawn in the evening
and you will also see the silky white tubes near the roots with
the worms inside. They create patches the size of a saucer in hot,
dry areas of the lawn which may enlarge to irregular patches from
Mid-May to October. Control with insecticide or beneficial insects.
Ants
Black, brown or red in colour, they scurry about with great speed
and build sandy mounds with holes in the centre throughout the lawn.
Ants don’t actually feed on grass but their mounds can smother
the grass and their tunnels dry the soil and roots out. Ants will
feed on newly sown grass seed. Control with insecticide.
Lawn Weed Control
Crabgrass, a late summer weed, can be controlled by using a pre-emergent
chemical control.
Most other broad-leaved weeds (Dandelion, Chickweed, Clover etc)
can be controlled by applying a chemical lawn weed killer such as
‘Killex’.
Always read the package instructions carefully before using these
products.
NEXT: Fertilizers
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